General condition and treatment outcome of patients undergoing SPSE
The surgical results were in table 2. Before and after embolization, the arterial phase showed the branches and distribution of the splenic arteries, and the equilibrium phase showed the distribution of the parenchymal blood supply to the spleen (Fig. 1).
The success rate of the SPSE procedure was 100%. 16 children underwent embolization of the middle and lower pole of the spleen, and the expected intraoperative embolization extent was 75%-90%. Pre-embolization and post-embolization (7-9 days) CT examinations were completed in 11 patients. The pre- and post-embolization spleen volumes were calculated and the actual splenic embolic extent was 73.2%-89.1% (Fig. 2). The difference between the pre-assessed embolic extent and the actual postoperative embolic extent was not statistically significant. This result suggests that SPSE can accurately determine the extent of splenic embolization intraoperatively. For preoperatively larger spleens, such as larger than 550 cm3, there may be a small deviation of approximately 10% in the assessment results.
No serious complications had occurred in any patient treated with SPSE (TABLE 2). All children experienced mild to moderate postembolization syndrome. 87.5% (14/16) of children presented with mild abdominal pain with a median abdominal pain duration of 6 days (range 0-9 days), which could easily be controlled with appropriate supportive therapy. Postoperative fever and vomiting occurred in 25.0% (4/16) and 31.3% (5/16) of the children, both of which resolved rapidly on autonomy. No other serious complications such as splenic abscess, portal vein embolism, or pulmonary atelectasis occurred.